Thursday, June 9, 2016

Yippee, today is the day!!!! The Summer Solstice Quilt-A-Long officially starts today!!! Today's post is going over everything you need to know to Quilt-A-Long. There will be a post every other Thursday from June 9th until September 1st with bi-weekly assignments and then there will be a Parade and Grand Prizes on September 15th. So lets go over how it's going to work!!

THE HOW TO

The Summer Solstice Quilt-A-Long is my own quilt design and I hope you enjoy putting it together and maybe even learn some new techniques along the way. The quilt-a-long will include 5 different sizes for the Summer Solstice block giving you multiple layout options. You can also choose how many blocks you want in your quilt. You can do a 1 x 1 block layout, 2 x 2 block layout, 3 x 3 block layout, and/or a 4 x 4 block layout. This quilt will not be made by making one block at a time but rather a more assembly line process. Once the units are done, then the blocks will be created. I broke down the construction of the quilt into bi-weekly assignments so hopefully the slower summer pace will allow everyone time to keep up even with vacations and crazy summer schedules ;) The schedule will be as follows

So count on checking back every other Thursday to see what the next assignment will be. You will want to try to keep up as there will be prizes along the way!! Be sure to take a picture of your finished assignments so that you can link it up for the bi-weekly prizes :) Oh, and if you are new to quilting, no worries, this will be super beginner friendly! I will go through each step in great detail in the Thursday posts.

CHOOSING A PROJECT SIZESo to start, you need to make some choices. What size project do you want to make and with what size blocks. Check out this chart below to help you decide what size project you want to make and with how many blocks in it. A 1 x 1 layout is 1 block, a 2 x 2 layout is 4 blocks, a 3 x 3 layout is 9 blocks (Kits provided for this layout) , and a 4 x 4 layout is 16 blocks.

This will give you an idea of what each layout will look like ;)

And as you have probably noticed - there are some curves in this quilt and you will need to make a template for that. So while you are choosing a size and looking at rounding up your fabric, also remember to round up something to make your templates from. I will be using Extra Thick Plastic Template Sheets but you can use thick posterboard, or cardboard or whatever you like to use best for templates ;)

Alright, back to it. Have you chosen a size block and layout?? Do you know what project you want to make?? Excellent, well then let's see what fabrics you are going to need.

THE FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

Regardless of what quilt you want to make you will need to choose "Print Fabrics" and a "Background Fabric". Print Fabrics (which can also be solids) refer to the fabrics making up your blocks (ie, the red, orange, and yellow above). And the Background Fabric (which can also be a print) refers to the fabric making up the background of the quilt (ie. the white above). You will also need binding fabric and backing fabric so you are all ready to finish up your quilt. (Because we area all about finishes, no wip's here :)

Print Fabric Requirements
Use the chart below to determine the amount of print fabrics you will need. In all layouts except the 1x1 layout the total number of fabrics you will need is also the number of blocks in your quilt. The size of each fabric cut depends on the size of your project. In the 1x1 layout, you will need to select 3 different fabrics. The "Center" fabric is the fabric that makes up the Star/Sun Center (yellow above). The "Surround" fabric is the fabric surrounding the Star/Sun Center (red above) . And that means the "Corners" fabric is the fabric in the 4 corner points (orange above).

Background Fabric Requirement
See the chart below for the amount of background fabric you will need for your particular size project. ( I will be showing everything with a white background fabric, but you don't have to use white, feel free to choose any color you like for the background or even a print :)

Binding and Backing Requirement
Refer to the two charts below for the requirements you will need for binding and backing for your particular project.

THE SUMMER SOLSTICE QUILT-A-LONG KITSI have asked my wonderful friend and sponsor Julie from the Intrepid Thread, to put together some custom kit bundles for the Summer Solstice Quilt-A-Long. And as always, she came up with some stunning options for you. The Kits are made for the 3 x 3 layout in the Lap, Picnic, or Queen quilt sizes. I went ahead and put each bundle into the quilt layout so you could get an idea of how they will look in the quilt. And as before, the Quilt-A-Long Kits are at a special Quilt-A-Long discount price!! Thanks so much Julie!!! Please note, these kits do not include the background fabric, so be sure to see the above requirements under Background Fabric Requirements for that ;) And, if you want to purchase your background fabric (and/or your binding and backing fabric) at the same time you buy your kits, you can use the code SLSB10 at The Intrepid Thread for 10% off your background fabric :)

Aren't these bundles just fabulous!!!! And isn't it so fun that Julie named them all after old songs ;) Thank you so much Julie for making up these gorgeous Quilt-A-Long kits!!! Good Luck choosing a favorite!! I was lucky and didn't have to decide a favorite this time around ;) I am making my quilt for my brother and his wife and so they had to choose and they picked the Scarborough Fair quilt Kit and I will be making it up in the queen size. I am so excited!!!

Oh, and I showed all of the kits with a white background, but don't be afraid to do something other than white, Look how adding a background color changes up these kits ;) Stunning!!!!

Octopus's Garden with Grey

Little Surfer Girl with Navy

If you are thinking about a color background that I haven't shown and would like to know what it will look like with your kit just email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com and I can send you a sketch no problem ;)THE PRIZES

I am so very excited about the Prizes for this Quilt-A-Long!! I don't know about you, but I know that I am highly more motivated to keep up and finish when there are prizes at stake ;) So how about this for a little motivation.

All those that finish their quilt top will be eligible for the 4 Grand Prizes. The Grand Prize's are sponsored by The Intrepid Thread and Fat Quarter Shop and huge Thank You goes out to Julie and Kimberly for their generosity in these prizes. Wan't to know what they are???

The first 2 winners will each receive a $100.00 Gift Certificates to Fat Quarter Shop and the next 2 winners will each receive a Custom Cotton + Steel Fat Quarter Bundle from The Intrepid Thread !!! Talk about some amazing fabric Goodness!!!!!! Yippee for fabric motivation!!

But . . . Sometimes it is hard to keep motivated when the end is so far away. So for that . . . We have a little bi-weekly motivation. Every other week you will be able to link up (You don't have to have a blog to link up, you can link to any social media image :) your completed assignment for a chance to win the bi-weekly assignment prize. These bi-weekly Prizes will be sponsored by several of my Sponsors and will be so fun!!!

So es, there is going to be a lot of wonderful fabric to be won!!! So keep up and sew on!!!

THE BUTTON, FLICKR, AND HASHTAG Now down to the last of the nitty gritty. If you are Quilting-A-Long and have a blog, It would be wonderful if you added the button to your blog :) It really helps to spread the word and the more that Quilt-A-Long the better!!! If you have already added the button, thank you!!!

If you use Flickr, I would love it if you joined the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group. You can post your fabric here, your progress, ask questions, ect. And it is a super fun place to get to chat along with everyone participating :)

And if you use Facebook or Instagram and are posting your progress on your social media, be sure and use the Hashtag #summersolsticequiltalong Then we can all easily find and see each others work on facebook and instagram as well ;)

LET'S GET GOING!!

So that just about wraps it up!!! You have 2 weeks to round up your fabric. That should give you a great cushion for it to arrive in the mail if you decide to order fabric online. Watch for that cutting assignment on June 23rd.

Now I know that was a lot for one post, so if you have any questions at all regarding the Quilt-A-Long please do not hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or comment below. I don't want anyone to not participate because they are confused by my rambling :) And one last thing, please feel free to make your quilt your own. If you want a different layout, great! Want to add a border, perfect!! What ever you envision, you make it yours, all finished quilt tops will be eligible for prizes :)

I don't think you have to have it quilted. Just the top finished. Her last sentence "What ever you envision, you make it yours, all finished quilt tops will be eligible for prizes." seems to suggest its just the top.

Hi Gale, If you want your quilt to be shown in the parade, then yes, your top needs to be quilted and bound by September 15th. But, to be eligible for the Grand Prize, you just have to have your Quilt Top done and linked up by the 15th ;) Hope that helps ;)

I'm in love with this design and plan to quilt along with you Melissa. As tempting as those kits are... I plan to use m'stash. Now to just figure out what size... You are so thorough that there is an option for everyone here! I added your button and posted your first Summer Solstice QAL announcement with my final Crafted Applique blog hop post giveaway.

Are any of the sizes curved pieces Accuquilt friendly? I'm not a fan of cutting curves unless my dies do it for me. But the pattern is beautiful and I would probably just pick the wall hanging if using a template.

Yeah! I'm so excited. I actually went through my stash yesterday and pulled out some yellows, reds and oranges because I love your example so much. I can't wait to get started. Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing your talent.

So happy I found 'happyquilting' :) My blog button is in place, my QAL board on Pinterest is updated, I'm following on Bloglovin', I've joined the Flickr group, my fabrics are almost sorted, that's me ready. Can't wait to see everyone else's progress :)

I've picked my fabrics and posted them on the Flickr group - looking forward to taking part. Am a little nervous about the curves as have done some Drunkard's Path blocks before, but not the edge to edge style curves. Planning ono one 32" block so not working with tiny pieces :)

Put the button up on my blog where I showed my fabric pull. I am trying to decide between two different sizes of blocks, but definitely want to make the queen size. Thanks so much Melissa. http://grammieq.blogspot.com

I just splurged and ordered some 140$ in fabric for this. The kids are getting lots of fun things for summer break, I should get something too, right? Maybe I shouldn't have done that. Maybe I should have stuck to my stash. Maybe I should have just placed a small order of the same colorings and used them for Julie's QAL over at the IT. Bah! Oh well! Too late now! I can't wait to show you my colors! You will love it!

You need 4 fabrics, because there are 4 blocks ;) You will be cutting out all 3 parts of the block (center star, surround, and corner triangles) out of each of the 4 fabrics and then mixing and matching the fabrics to make up the block. So for each fabric, in one block it will be the center star, in another block, it will be the surround, and in another block it will be the corner triangles ;) I hope that makes sense and clears it up for you :)

Hi Melissa! I'm thinking about making this pattern into a table runner for my Dad's dining room table (it's huge). It would be the 20" blocks in a 1 x 4 layout. Are you okay with that? I wanted to check first since this is your pattern.

Hi Melissa! I'm trying to still pick my fabric (slow!) I'm going to aim for the 4*4 king quilt. I'm planning on joining the blocks together so there is no inner boarders if that makes sense? I'm planning on making all the pointy bits sticking out from the corners of each block in the same fabric. So would that mean I need 2 yards of that fabric? And 12 1/2 yards for the rest of the blocks? Sorry to be difficult! My husband is at uni and I'm not really wanting to buy fabric at the moment so I'm trying to use up my stash. Any help would be appreciated:) Jessica

I should add I would prefer the 3*3 king layout, but I gave mostly 1/2 yard cuts. Do you think I could squeeze them out if I were super careful? Thank you so much for all your hard work by the way! It must be quite an undertaking!!! (Especially with people like me!) If your not sure/too much work to figure it out with any of my questions that's completely fine!! I know your a busy mum and don't want to bog you down!

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